METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOCATING AND DISTINGUISHING BLOOD VESSEL

• US 20130197367A1
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Published: 08/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smoke Signals, LLC, Stevens Institute Of Technology
• Original Assignee: Smoke Signals, LLC
• Inventors: McNair, Bruce, Hazelwood, Vikki, Smok, Jeffrey, Blaise, Sheela, Coyle, Sean James, Mayer, Lauren, Schurmann, Matt, Velez, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 8,764,663 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/454
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/06 Measuring blood flow measuring volume flow in general G01F, e.g. G01F1/66, G01F1/72; measuring speed of fluids in general G01P5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/085 for locating body or organic structures, e.g. tumours, calculi, blood vessels, nodules
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/461 Displaying means of special interest
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/462 characterised by constructional features of the display
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/488 involving Doppler signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5223 for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data for algorithms to analyse biomedical images G06T7/0012
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/56 Details of data transmission or power supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/565 involving data transmission via a network

Abstract

A apparatus and a method are disclosed for transmitting a signal directed to a blood vessel via a Doppler ultrasound waveform apparatus, receiving, by the Doppler ultrasound waveform apparatus, a reflected signal from the blood vessel; and determining, by a processing device, whether the blood vessel is an artery or a vein based on a blood flow velocity in the blood vessel.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

transmitting a signal directed to a blood vessel via a Doppler ultrasound waveform apparatus;

receiving, by the Doppler ultrasound waveform apparatus, a reflected signal from the blood vessel; and

determining, by a processing device, whether the blood vessel is an artery or a vein based on a blood flow velocity in the blood vessel.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying an indication of whether the blood vessel is an artery or a vein.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising displaying an indication of a confidence level as to whether the blood vessel is an artery or a vein.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a phase of a Doppler shift and transmitting the results to a file.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sterilizing the apparatus.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the Doppler ultrasound waveform apparatus is a tone burst excitation differential Doppler apparatus, further comprising:

determining a location of the blood vessel; and

displaying an indication of the location of the blood vessel.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the blood vessel is located in a human arm, further comprising:

determining that the blood vessel is an artery when the blood flow velocity is between 60 cm/sec and 100 cm/sec; and

determining that the blood vessel is a vein when the blood flow velocity is between 10 cm/sec and 20 cm/sec.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining a high confidence level that the blood vessel is an artery when the blood flow velocity is between 75 cm/sec and 85 cm/sec; and

determining a high confidence level that the blood vessel is a vein when the blood flow velocity is between 14 cm/sec and 16 cm/sec.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the blood flow velocity based on an equation, wherein the equation is:

V_blood=(C_tissue/2 cos(α

))(f_o−

f_doppler);

wherein;

V_blood is the blood flow velocity in the blood vessel;

C_tissue is a speed of sound in soft tissue;

α

is an angle of incidence of the ultrasound waveform apparatus;

f_o is a resonant frequency of the ultrasound waveform apparatus; and

f_doppler is a frequency of Doppler shifted echo.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the resonant frequency is between and includes 1.0 MHz and 10.0 MHz.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a memory; and

a processing device communicably coupled to the memory and to;

transmit a signal directed to a blood vessel via a Doppler ultrasound waveform;

receive a signal reflected from the blood vessel;

determine whether the blood vessel is an artery or a vein based on a blood flow velocity in the blood vessel; and

display an indication of whether the blood vessel is an artery or a vein.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:

determine a confidence level as to whether the blood vessel is an artery or a vein; and

display an indication of the confidence level.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, the Doppler ultrasound waveform having a resonant frequency between and including 1.0 MHz and 10.0 MHz.

14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:

transmitting a signal directed to a blood vessel via a Doppler ultrasound waveform apparatus;

receiving, by the Doppler ultrasound waveform apparatus a reflected signal from the blood vessel; and

determining, by a processing device, whether the blood vessel is an artery or a vein based on a blood flow velocity in the blood vessel.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising displaying an indication of whether the blood vessel is an artery or a vein.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising displaying an indication of a confidence level as to whether the blood vessel is an artery or a vein.